The Auditor's Decision
by Joshua The Evil Guy
Summary: An alternate ending to 'A Week In The Life Of An Overlord'. I never liked that her finger slipped and she died anyway, making him think that she'd done it intentionally. I better like the idea of her following his final order, without slipping on the trigger, and then ultimately proving her loyalty. Happily Ever After.


Title: "The Auditor's Decision" aka "Half An Hour In The Life Of The Overlord's Personal Auditor"

Author: Joshua

Disclaimer: A Fanfic based off the short story "A Week In The Life Of An Overlord" by Rick Field. Available at (http: www . smashwords profile / view / RickField ) and definitely worth the read!

Summary: An alternate ending to 'A Week In The Life Of An Overlord'. I never liked that her finger slipped and she died anyway, making him think that she'd done it intentionally. I better like the idea of her following his final order, without slipping on the trigger, and then ultimately proving her loyalty. Happily Ever After.

Story:

_What Could Have Happened At The End Of "A Week In The Life Of An Overlord"..._

_She swallowed and her finger tightened on the trigger..._

The alarms blared, and he threw the door to the Imperial quarters open. he grabbed the nearest guard and pulled him inside physically. The second guard at the door followed with his back to us, as if covering our backs. My Overlord pulled the guard he had in his grip into the bedroom, where my 'body' was laying on his bed. "She pulled a gun on me and pulled the trigger," he snapped. "The last line of defense kicked in, interception was successful. So was retaliation."

The man just nodded, looking appalled at what had happened. He was no idiot, none of the Emperor's guards were; he knew what this meant. The Auditors had betrayed the Empire. "Stay here, and make sure that nothing happens to her body. She may be dead, but we'll need it for evidence."

The man nodded again. He turned to the second guard as a solid half-dozen more guards rushed in through the door. One look at the body on the bed was enough to explain the situation. Especially considering the fact that the body was still holding the gun, and a large burn mark was visible on it's chest.

"The Auditors have committed treason," Emperor Sol Invictus IV snapped. "We're going to my office." He pointed to one of the guards. "You, wake up the Advisers, all of them. Contact Staal, we'll need Executive Branch in on this." Pointing to a second guard, he ordered, "And you, lift the Chief Auditor out of bed. Don't give her time to change or contact anyone. This is a smash and grab. Draw as many officers as you need."

"Yes, My Lord!" both guards said, actually snapping a formal salute and dashing away. They all left the room after that.

Moments later, I was alone in the room. I calculated, again, and mostly just to fill in the time that was now available to me by just laying on the bed waiting, the time it would take a group of men, based on height, weight, gait, current physical health and the latest records from their files in regards to physical fitness, adding in factors such as current emotional stress and the standard human reaction to the types of stimulus they were all encountering. Once I was positive they were down the hall and I was truly alone, I sat up and removed the soot from where I had been 'blasted' and retrieved the hand held device my Overlord had given to me prior to the beginning of our plan.

As I waited the appropriate amount of time, (currently it would take more time for the guards to 'snatch and grab' all the conspirators, gather them all, and for the Emperor to confront them than it would take for me to follow him down the hallway to his office), I went over my decision and everything leading up to it yet again.

In the beginning, I was the same as all the others, being raised amongst maybe one hundred other candidates in the Antarctica Province Auditor Training Facility. An then one day, the Chief Auditor pulled me from there and brought be to the Auditor's Prime Fortress. And the brainwashing began.

There, unfortunately, is no better term for it. The effect a radical change in the ideas and beliefs of a person, especially by methods based on isolation, sleeplessness, hunger, extreme discomfort, pain, and the alternation of kindness and cruelty. Mind control, hypnotism, mesmerism, all of it was used, together and separately, but all to ensure that I would know and complete my mission.

Before, I could hardly distinguish it from my regular training, but now it stood out in stark contrast. As stark as the difference between black and white. I was told, just before the Chief Auditor brought me to be her 'assistant and proxy', that there were two others. Genetically, we were identical, but they had each been born and raised in other parts of the world. One in the Americas, the other somewhere on the Eurasian continent, I was never told where. What I was told was that they would survive while I would die. They, my sisters, would go on and perhaps even be leaders in the new regime that would be made after I completed my mission.

My mission. Shooting the Overlord of humanity in the face. Killing my Emperor. The one man that I have been raised to always, _always_ be loyal to above all others! To use a more common vernacular that a common, ordinary person might understand, they... _she_ wanted me to kill my _GOD_!

Moving past the rage that the mere thought brought about, I checked the time and saw that I still had time. My thoughts moved on to the beginning of my 'mission'. I met him and surprised myself by how... non-god-like my Emperor was in appearance. Then he asked that I return after completing the relatively simple task he had asked of me, and I began to know fear.

They had trained us to have absolute control over our emotions at the Fortress. They had trained us in numerous ways to minimize or falsify our micro-expressions in order to better maintain whatever illusion we needed to in order to fool those that needed to be fooled, and assure those that needed to be assured. When the Overlord called me back into his office however, I rethought my opinion that he wasn't god-like after all, fearing that he'd just looked at me and instantly known that I was a trained assassin.

And then he invited me to have lunch with him.

I have never been so terrified as that moment when he explained that he was not ordering, but _inviting_ me to have a meal with him. I wanted to tell him everything at that moment. Confess it all, the conspiracy, my mission, what they wanted me to do. Instead, I swallowed my fear, at his prompting, and enjoyed his company for the remainder of the week.

It was, at once, both the most exhilarating, and most terrifying time of my life. Living from moment to moment, not knowing if he knew already or not, and then he showed me the Moon Base. That was the final evidence I needed to know that he did not in fact know or suspect me. If he did... he would not have shown that to me.

My mission, my brainwashing kicked fully in once that realization had settled. There were three aspects my mission required in order to succeed, and it had been drilled into me as much as everything they had pounded into me over the years. Get the Emperor alone. Shoot him in the face. Notify the appropriate people once it was done so they could put the proper spin on it.

My micro-expression control was an absolute mess and still was. When we came back from the Moon Base, my Overlord had invited me to a 'proper dinner' this evening. And then he did what I had most wished that he hadn't. He'd invited me to his private quarters where we could be alone. My brainwashing kicked in and would not allow me to warn him or deny the simple request. I recall silently begging him all the way here to change his mind or to order someone to join us. Even another woman, a concubine, _anybody_ so I wouldn't have to do it.

I looked at the clock. It was time.

Walking to the door, I stepped out into the hallway and silently made my way to the Emperor's office. There were two guards standing outside, they saw me the instant I turned the corner, and their weapons were trained on me the moment that I was in their sight. I paused and held up that which my Emperor had given me. They stared, stunned, but allowed me to pass. I stepped up to the door to his office and quietly listened to the conversation that was now ending on the other side.

"You will tell us everything," I heard my Emperor say to the my predecessor, the one who brainwashed me. "And when you are done telling, there will be a new Chief Auditor, who will conduct an in-depth review of your confession and your compatriots. And trust me, she will find all of them. And they will be executed, publicly. Last time, you were able to engage Peruvian terrorists, this time it will be your heads on the block."

I berated myself silently. It would appear that I was off in my calculations by several seconds. One supposes it could be forgiven in light of the stressful evening, but still. "Show her in," I heard my Overlord's voice through the door. It almost immediately opened.

I stepped in, tentatively, holding up the hand-screen proclaiming me to be the Voice and the Hand of the Emperor yet again. The Emperor continued speaking to the traitorous old Auditor. "Your assassin refused to obey your illegal order. In order to maintain the ruse, she agreed to being stunned by the security system. She will take control over the Auditors, investigate your claims, and those found guilty will be executed."

The bound woman stared, yet said nothing. I stared back, communicating all my contempt and rage at being used by her to betray my Emperor. The madness that had consumed her had hit the hard wall of the Empire. She slumped to the ground. My Overlord waved his hand, and the guards dragged her away. "Work with Jennifer, Staal. Get rid of the rot that has spread into my Auditors."

"Yes, My Lord," the man said, nodding respectfully to me. "Well done, ma'am."

I returned his nod. The other advisers congratulated me one by one, thanking me for my service. When finally, it was just me, the Emperor, and half a dozen guards in his office, I went and sat down.

"Your Auditors, My Lord?" I asked, expectantly.

He grinned, stood up, and walked around the desk. "One Auditor in particular."

"We never did have that liquor, My Lord," I reminded him, gazing up at him as he towered over me. He was... very intimidating. Though it was entirely unprofessional and not at all right for one such as myself, it made me feel distinctly... female. I swallowed nervously. "Thank you for this second chance, My Emperor."

He grinned and pulled me to my feet. "Let's have that drink. I need it after tonight."

"As do I, your Majesty," I freely admitted, anxious to begin my duties in hopes of purging the final traces of this brainwashing that I had undergone. I began to plan out what would be required and precisely how long it would take for the full psychological effects to be entirely purged from my mind and system. "As do I."

_To Be Continued...?_


End file.
